davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
VESUVIUS.
TRIALS OF THE TOURIST ON HIS
WAY TO THE VOLCANO TOP.
Eating Oysters in Summer on the Edge of
the Crater-Besieged by Self-constituted
Guides and Truculent Peddlers-A Long
and Costly Trip for a Sniff of Sulphur.


NAPLES, August 10.-Oysters. Moth
ing strange about that, except that
to have them offered to you on the
top of Vesuvius, in hot weather, too,
makes it rather strange experience.
One does not expect an elaborate table
dhote at such an elevation as the restau
rant on the top of the famous volcano;
and certainly he does not expect oysters.
But right here let me say, the oysters
offered me at Vesuvius were not the same
kind of oysters Americans are in the
habit of eating. They were miserable
little animals, with brassy, almost
singing taste, and one has to eat half a
dozen to get good mouthful-that is, if
one wants mouthful of such. These
Neapolitan oysters are caught in large
numbers in the Bay of Naples, and are
eaten with great relish by the inhabitants.
l pity the oysters if they had as difficult
time getting to the top of Vesuvius as
| did. One does not expect an easy
ride up the mountain side, but when
he is told that railroad goes up
to the top, he expects to use the
railroad some distance and not have
to ride for two hours to reach it,
and then only go 900 feet In it in
nine minutes. One who starts directly
from Naples in carriage generally goes
with comparative comfort to the rail
road, but he does not have as much fun
as one who hires a carriage at Resina,
the village at the foot of the mountain,
and travels up in it from that place. The
railroad company seem to own the
mountain side, especially short road
they have constructed of about one mile
from the old hermitage to the railroad.
Any one who comes to this road in any
other carriage than that owned by the
railroad has to walk, as outside carriages
are not allowed on it.
came out of the excavation of Her
culaneum, at Resina, quite tired out with
wandering about the old streets and
through the old amphitheatre, where l
was beset by cabmen and guides all anx
ious to drive or conduct me to the top of
Vesuvius Af!o" lot of bargaining I
managed to Sour one-horse carriage,
with good ST, ut .orse, for twelve Tires,
or So 49, One condition, however, was
that no guide or "appendage" of any
kind should be attached to the party.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27

gone some distance ahead, and finally the
albino concluded to go, too, and after that
l was left alone. l found, however, that
the railroad company did rob me, for
they charged me twenty-three francs or
"a 90 just to go up and come down the
900 feet of inclined or cable railroad.
Like all inclined railroads, the ascent
was slow. The car only has four seats
for passengers, and it was bitterly cold
as it climbed slowly up the grade of
800 to 400, and the clouds blew thick and
fast across the car, hiding the view.
The train runs into little wooden
shed, and here a guide of the railroad
company takes charge of you, and away
you go for ten minutes more, trudging
up through the cinders to the crater. If
guides prosecute and annoy you below
the railroad, they literally eat you up at
the top. Men with chairs are anxious to
carry you; boys with straps demand to
pull you up; old creatures with sulphur,
so-called antique" coins imbedded in
lava, insist upon your buying them, and
so by the time you reach the crater you
are literally worn out by these men.
Once at the crater the official guide
lets you very cautiously go to its
edge, look over at the smoke and Gin
ders, get terrible smell of sulphur
up your nostrils, and then insists
that you have seen enough and starts on
terrific dog trot down the cinder
path to the station. 1t of course is
easier to go down hill in run than a
walk, but the way that guide took me
down Vesuvius' peak was caution.
The path of cinders winds in zigzag
fashion and the curves are very short.
The whole top of the mountains of
course is cinders and lava, but the guides
have made path from the station to the
crater, and down this they conduct you.
My man flew on ahead of me, and on
every side ran persistent beggars who
wanted me to buy their trash as SOU
venirs. Once or twice, as my guide left
me in the rear, l could distinguish his
form through the clouds like a ghost
reckoning me on, and went.
JOHN S. SHRIvER.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27

The guides at the Resina are frauds of the
first-class and have completely taken the
place of the famous banditti. You might
as well hand over your pocketbook to
them on starting, if you take one, be-
cause they are sure to get all your money
before they leave you.
Our carriage started off finely and we
began the ascent passing through beg
gars by the score, all anxious for a soldi
or two. We had not gone far before l
noticed large, heavy-built man coming
up the road as fast as his legs could carry
him. He soon overlook us, and informed
me in Italian he was my guide. told
him l did not want one but whether he
understood my Italian or did not care to
understand, he paid no attention to me
and continued to walk beside the car
riage. 1t was hardly ten minutes later
when another guide, this time true al
bino, with white hair, pink eyes and the
reddest face / ever saw on a man,
overlook the carriage and informed me
in three nguages-Italian, French and
English-that he was also to be my guide.
/ answered him as l had done the first.
Then it seemed as if we were to be re-
lieved of the men, for they both stopped
and glared at each other as if they in
tended to contest by fight to the finish
as to who should conduct me. But my
hopes were in vain, for they adjusted
their grievances and both concluded to
go along. So they took their positions
on either side of the carriage and trudged
up that hard, winding road for over two
hours. l was tired riding, but they did
not seem to mind the walk in the least.
When we arrived at the entrance to
the private roadway, one mile from the
railway, the self-constituted guides
thought they surely had me. They began
to make propositions to entrap me and
offered to conduct me by short cuts to
the crater at very much cheaper rates
than the railroad would. refused all
such advances and started on the walk,
first taking the precaution to make the
men. go ahead of me some distance.
Once or twice they made attempts to
waylay me, and once the albino took
TO bulldozng, and sat on the roadside
playing lacks" with large pieces of
lava. When approached he stood
up with piece in each hand and
informed me that he did not intend
10 let the railroad company rob me
and that he insisted upon conducting
me up better road. had a stout
cane in my hand, and although we
were in a large lava-bed and some dis
lance from the railroad station, / felt l
could hold my own, and SO paid no at
tention to him. The other guide" had
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
OFFICIAL DECORUM. >
One of the Results of Non-partisaI
Civil Service.

One of the Results of a Non-partisan
Civil Service.
One of the advantages of non-par-
tisan civil service is that public officials
constitute a happy family, who are
keenly alive to their community of in
terest, and act in unison for the common
benefit of their class. In this country
the contending parties look sharply after
the offices, and public officials must be
constantly ready to endure sharp scru
tiny and criticism. Hence the clamor
that surrounds the conduct of American
politics, which is in such sharp contrast
with the quiet decorum of official life
in England. There the gravest offensc
is one against decorum, and hence
Lord Beresford is in trouble. In the
recent naval review, Lord Beresford,
who is first Lord of the Admiralty, was on
the royal yacht with the Queen. Signals
were displayed from the yacht which,
being interpreted, were as follows:
Tell Lady Charles to go at once on
board the yacht Lancashire Witch,
where I will join her." For any one to
signal a private message from the royal
yacht was regarded as an outrageous
breach of decorum, and Lord Beresford
felt constrained to offer his resignation.
The case of Mr. Robertson, clerk of the
architects department of the London
Board of Works, is quite different. He
has a salary of $2,250 year, on which he
lives in grand style, keeping his carriage
and liveried coachman. For long
while contractors, builders and architects
have grumbled thatvit was impossible to
do any business with the board unless
such and such architects were employed
or such and such manufacturers goods
purchased, the persons being friends of
Mr.. Robertson. Recently several of
these grumblers made row about
the fact that some valuable and
coveted sites controlled by the board
had been let at low rates to Mr.. Robert
sons brothers, and it was found that Mr..
Robertson had himself invested $4,000
of his savings in the speculation. An
investigation was held and the board by
a vote of twenty-four to twenty decided
that Mr.. Robertson's conduct had been
injudicious, but proposal that he
should be dismissed was rejected by
twenty-five to nineteen. So Mr.. Rob
ertson still continues to receive the
modest salary on which he thrives
so well. The great London dailies
were not sufficiently interested in the
case to print the details of the investiga-
ton, such scandals being offensive to
public decorum. In this country the
papers would have made disgusting
racket about the affair that would have
driven Robertson out of office.
We have class of political aesthetics
in this country who greatly admire the
placid quiet of official life in England,
and would like to see it established in
this country, but they may be disap-
III
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
ARIsTOCRATIC KLEPTONANIACs.
A Remarkable OutgrOwth of Patrician
Ennui in Paris.

A Remarkable OutgrOwth of Patrician
Ennui in Paris.
There are kleptomaniacs in Paris, as in
England and America. The vast stores.
such as the Louvre and the Bon Marche, are
their favorite field. During five years there
were $50 robberies day of this class. The
first theft is not noticed; the second offense
is met by instant arrest The most daring
are the women, and, whatever their rank in
society, their names, when they are caught,
are registered for future reference though
they have restored or paid for what they have
stolen. In a single store on one day last
year there were more than Il hundred arrests,
the value of the goods stolen amounting to
5000. Every offe of the culprits was dis
charged on conditions. The appetite, how
ever, is Unsuitable, and at times indiscrimi-
nate. There is a well known society woman
of high rank and great wealth, who has been
caught in the act of stealing a pate de .foie
grds at the shop where she had Just paid
large bill. In London the rule of the shop
keepers in dealing with the regular klepto-
maniacs is to take no notice of the filching
beyond sending in an account of the differ
ent articles, all of which, be it understood,
are charged at full price. Payment is made
without question. Sometimes a different
course is taken. The Countess de B slips
some article under her cloak whenever she
goes to counter where fancy goods are ex-
pose for sale. Each time that she is ar
rested she gives the proprietor of the store
500 for the poor. This woman is sixty
years old and has a handsome fortune, but
she cannot overcome her master passion
Charleston Neous.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
FLIRTING IN THE TREASURY.
How Cupid Avoids Detection in the Siler
Corridors of the Treasury.

How Cupid Avoids Detection in the Silent
Corridors of the Treasury.
Love laughs at treasury regulations as well
as at locksmiths, writes the Philadelphia
Ledgers Washington correspondent. Some
time ago the chief clerk of the Treasury De
partment issued an order prohibiting clerks
from visiting and promenading the corridors
during business hours. Prior to this regula-
ton the treasury girls spent considerable
time visiting each other and in walking
leisurely around the corridors with favorite
masculine clerks For a time the new order
effectually suppressed the abuse aimed at,
as all persons found visiting and walk
ing about idly were reported to the
good results, yet many male and fe-
male clerks, with disposition for tiirta-
ton, have devised plan by which they
may enjoy a promenade of mile without
being detected by the minions of the chief
clerk. The treasury building is about 300 by
200 feet in dimensions; 1t is quadrangular
in form, with a central wing stretching from
east to west, thus converting the building
into double quadrangle Two elevators
situated in distant corners of the building
carry all Corners from floor to floor. The
length of the corridors of each story ex-
tended in a straight line is full quarter
mile, and as there are four stories we have a
mile of corridors, forming, with their tiled
floors, frescoed walls and vaulted ceilings,
a most charming promenade. To be
found lettering on any particular
floor is to insure a report and reprimand, and
repetition of the offense brings admonition
of suspension or discharge. Some of the
girls of the treasury are smart as well as
pretty, and have devised plan by which
they may join each other and their beaux
without fear of the chief clerk and his senti-
nels. Meeting at an appointed hour and
place, these couples will promenade the entire
length of the corridors Of one floor, and then,
taking separate elevators so as to avoid de
lection, will proceed to the next floor and
leisurely continue their 'spooning" while
they make the circuit of its corridors. This
is repeated until they have traversed the cor
ridors of the four floors, when each will re-
pair to his and her proper divisions, using
both elevators for this purpose, having
walked a mile, Killed half hours time,
knocked out the eye of the chief clerk" and
had ''lovely time" while so engaged.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
THE PAPAL NUNCIO.
No Chance for Such an Envoy in the
United States.

No Chance for Such an Envoy in the
United States.
One of the charges which DR.. McGlynn
pours fourth so copiously against the
church of which he still claims to be
member is that it entertains the design
of securing recognition to papal nuncio
in this country. Cardinal Gibbons has
denied this, and his denial will be gen.
orally accepted as conclusive. 1t may
well be, however, that the appointment
of papal nuncio has been discussed in
some quarters, but on the slightest re-
Election the proposal is seen to be so out
of place that it is not likely ever to be
seriously taken up by the authorities of
the church. The structure of our ma
tional government is such that papal
nuncio could not have any functions
whatsoever. To address the President
on the affairs of the church would bring
up subject with which he has nothing
in the world to do.
The matter of the appointment of d
papal nuncio to England was recently
brought forward, and was the subject of
. memorandum drawn up for the Pope
by Cardinal Manning, summary of
which was given In the London Tablet.
Cardinal Manning put the case in way
that is as pertinent to the state of the
Roman Catholic Church in this country
as in Europe. While holding that in
countries where the church has a legal re-
lation as such to the state a nuncio may
have important functions to discharge,
he declares that Gin land like England,
where the Catholic Church has no con-
nection of any kind whatever with the
sovereign or the state; where the civil
power has no right at all to make its
voice heard in the nomination of bish-
ops; where the church relies merely on
the common law of the land like all other
subjects, then it cannot be seen what
there remains for a nuncio to do. He
could exercise no influence of any kind
whatsoever on legislation or its appli-
cation. He could claim nothing for
bishops and priests which the lat
ter could not claim directly from the
government, if they desired it. The
welfare of the church in England consists
precisely in this, that she has no privi-
leges, and that she stands on the ground
of common rights that are the same for
all. A nuncio would thus bring no ad-
vantages; he would only do harm"
This is precisely the case in this coun-
try, and it can hardly be doubted that
Cardinal Gibbons and the heads of the
Roman Catholic Church here share Car
dinal Manning's views on this matter.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
TORNADOES.
Some Theories Concerning the Origin Of
these Disastrous Visitors.

Some Theories Concerning the Origin Of
these Disastrous Visitors.
Two opposite and contradictory theories
exist respecting the violent connections in
the atmosphere which are known to us by
the name of tornadoes. One of these theories
which corresponds to the popular belief
that water-spouts pump up water from the
sea-attributes their cause to vast Gu rrents
of heated air rushing upward from the
ground toward the clouds. The other theory
assigns the cause of tornadoes to aerial
viii rlpools and eddies, which, originating in
the upper regions of the atmosphere, stretch
downward till they reach the soil. The first
theory is supported in America by the au-
thority of Franklin and other great names;
the second is the one hich M. Faye main
tains to be the true eXpla nation of the phe-
nOmena, and which, we may say, he has
doctrine of Aspiration by tornadoes, or of
their sucking or drawing upward things
living on the ground. This theory sup
poses a lower stratum of warm, moist
air to be rising in the atmosphere. While
so mounting it expands, cools and abandons
a part of its moisture, which takes the form
of cloud. 1t then again becomes warmer,
i'll consequence of the heat disengaged by
the condensation of its vapOr. Being, there
fore, lighter than the surrounding medium,
it will continue to mount. On reaching
higher region where the air is rarer it will
again dilate and afterward cool, thereby
giving up another portion of its moisture,
and so on until the process is repeated as far
as the limits of the atmosphere. According
to Mr.. Espy, the inventor of this theory, the
ascending column of air would cause a
sucking or draft at its foot, much as happens
in chimney at the base of which fire is
always burning But here we fail to discover
any reason either why the ascending column
Of air should move onward in one direction
or another or why the said column of air
should rapidly revolve or spin from right to
left. Nevertheless, these are two essential
characteristics of tornadoes.-AH the Year
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
THE EXTINCT AUSTRALIAN LION.
Some Well-preserved Remains Discovered
Pointing to its Past Existence.

Some Well-preserved Remains Discovered
Pointing to its Past Existence.
1t has long been disputed point, and in
deed a vexed question, as to whether the So
called great Australian lion ever existed.
Some interesting discoveries, however, have
been recently made in the Wellington caves,
New South Wales of undoubted remains of
this animal The bones are at present de-
posted in the Mines Department Museum,
Sydney, and consist of sew eral very complete
jawbones, containing the teeth in an excel
lent state of preservation. Prior to being
publicly exhI bited they were submitted to
the inspection of Professor Sir Richard
Owen, of the British Museum, and his Opn-
ion is that the animal was marsupial or
pouch-bearing lion. fully equal in size to the
existing African species. Discoveries of leon
inc remains have at various times been made
in New South Wales, and also in Victoria,
and the specim ems in question are well pre-
served. They have Deen excavated from
pOst-pleiOcene deposits, and in connection
with them were the remains of what are
known as the Tasmanian tiger and the Tas-
manian devil. An equally interesting fact
is that Professor Owen, when referring
many years ago to the herbivorous charac-
teristics of the Australian diprotodon,' ex-
pressed his conviction that some large carniv-
Orous animal must have been cOeXistcnt
with him, to keep the race in check and that
probably lions then inhabited Australia,
hypothesis which has been fully verified.
These facts are interesting, as helping to es-
ages of the lion in Australia.-Chdns6e's
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
"GALUMPHING GIRLS.o
Ladies' Who Pay No Attention Whatever
to "FOot Education"

Ladies' Who Pay No Attention Whatever
to ''Foot Education"
Why is it that so few American women
walk well, you wonder. Is it lacing or
bustles or what that spoils their gait? And
as you study this problem another presents
itself quite worthy of pedal science. Terrible
as the charge is, 1t seems none the less true
that nearly all the Southern women "tOe
in" Ten ladies, all young, from Baltimore
and New Orleans, have crossed the sands.
One of them has planted her dainty feet
properly, angling them away from each
other as they fall. Another has approached
this, but the remaining eight have either
set their feet in a straight line ahead or
pointed them little inward. Two of them
have displayed an ungainly overreaching
hip movement. Lewis Carroll found the
only word to describe it when, in recounting
the Staying of the jabberwock, he made the
word 'galumphing." Thosetw unquestion-
ably ''galumph." But they have faces that
could carry worse faults than that, and of
foot education they take no thought what
ever.-NeW York Times Narraganseu Letter.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-08-27
The Plug Hat BOycotted.

The San Francisco Examiner calls upon all
adult male citizens to boycott the plug
hat and to indulge in the use of hair oil (.
Much" it says, las we sometimes laugh in
our sleeves at the vanity of using hair oil,
yet the experience of the African Nublans.
who consume all the grease they can get ON
their woolly heads would seem to favor the
practice in preference to water which most
generally contains more or less matter that
is injurious to the hair There is no bald
ness among the Nubians, whose hair is
creased stiff all the time, beside living in the
scorching sun"